Lee County Continues Talks To Bring Nationals To Ft. Myers

The Lee County (Fla.) Commission will meet today and address several items relevant to Spring Training, including the "future of City of Palms Park." County officials "find themselves hard-pressed to finance renovations that would lure a team to the vacant venue," but repurposing the venue "could be a costly endeavor" as well. Commissioners also will "examine ways for disabled residents to get to ball games" (Ft. Myers NEWS-PRESS, 2/5).

Commissioners last night heard that the Nationals have "scaled back their requests" from the county for a potential move to City of Palms. The team has laid out a "four-year, four-phase plan to meet their improvement needs," with an initial $15.5M phase to be completed within a year. The Nationals have rejected two county staff proposals: one that would have reduced rent to $1 a year "if the Nationals agreed to move into the stadium as is," and another in which the requested improvements would be made if the team agreed to a "30-year lease at $500,000 per year" (NAPLES DAILY NEWS, 2/5).